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PARIS — Powerful winds and torrential rain swept southern France yesterday, grounding flights
and cutting off power to tens of thousands of homes.

About 50,000 homes across the country were without electricity on Christmas Day because of
broken power lines and widespread flooding in the northwestern Brittany region, said France’s ERDF
power distributor.

Repair work by about 2,000 technicians throughout the day restored power to about 70,000
homes.

Hurricane-force winds have lashed France and Britain, causing five deaths in Britain and one in
France. Heavy downpours disrupted rail, flight and ferry services.